Center of Gravity
by Anxa
Summary: Lily was supposed to hate James. She's always hated him, ever since he developed his ridiculous crush on her. So why are things suddenly changing? How did the guy who's caused her so much annoyance become her friend? And how did she start to fall in love?


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**A/n: Well I finally got around to finishing chapter one of my new story, Center of Gravity.**

**Summary; ****Lily was supposed to hate James. She's always hated him, ever since he developed his ridiculous crush on her. So why are things suddenly changing? How did the guy who's caused her so much annoyance become her friend? And how did she start to fall in love with him?**

**Disclaimer; If I actually owned Harry Potter, do you honestly think I'd be writing fanfiction?**

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Lily Evans stood in front of the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten at King's Cross Station in London. She stared at the wall with a sad expression and sighed. This would be the very last time she passed through as a student. Lily closed her eyes and turned back to her parents delaying the moment when she had to begin her last year at Hogwarts.

"I'll miss you," she said to her mum.

"I'll miss you, too," her mum answered hugging her.

"Good luck this year, Lils," her dad said taking his turn to hug her.

"Thanks, dad," Lily said.

"Don't forget to write," her mum added.

"Of course," Lily said. "Tell Petunia I said goodbye."

Lily's mum nodded, "We will."

"Well…bye," Lily said hugging her parents one last time.

With one last wave and one last sad sigh she passed through the barrier from the muggle to the magical world.

Lily appeared on Platform 9¾ and smiled sadly as she looked around at the familiar platform.

"Lily!" someone shouted.

Lily grinned as a short blonde girl with bright blue eyes ran up to her yelling, "Lily, Lily, Lily!" repeatedly.

"Mary!" Lily exclaimed as her best friend, Mary Macdonald, collided with her and gave her a hug. "I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too!" Lily said lifting her trunk onto the train. "How was your summer?"

"Great! We vacationed in France!" Mary said.

"You're so lucky!" Lily said, "I would love to go to France."

"I wish I could have taken you with us," Mary said, "That would have been so much more fun! How was your summer?"

"Not great," Lily said, "I can't stand being around Petunia when she hates me."

"Aw, Lily, she'll come around, don't worry," Mary said.

"We used to be so close," Lily muttered.

"Just give her time," Mary said. "Now help me lift my trunk."

Lily laughed as Mary, who had no upper body strength, struggled to lift her trunk on her own.

"Can you believe this is our last year?" Mary asked as they lifted the trunk onto the train.

"Not at all," Lily said, "It doesn't seem like we've going to Hogwarts for six years now."

"I know," Mary said as they started walking down the corridor looking for a compartment.

"Here's an empty compartment," Lily said, "Let's sit in here."

Lily and Mary walked into the compartment on together they lifted their trunks onto the overhead racks.

"I have to go up to the front of the train," Lily said when they were done.

"Oh!" Mary exclaimed, "I almost forgot; you're Head Girl! Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Lily said.

"I knew you would be!" Mary said, "Do you know who the Head Boy is?"

"No, but I'm really hoping that it's not a Slytherin," Lily said.

"I don't think Dumbledore would be thick enough to make a Slytherin and a Gryffindor Heads together. I mean, we hate each other on principle; that would be disastrous," Mary said.

"Dumbledore's brilliant, but he's mad," Lily said.

Mary laughed, "I don't think that Dumbledore would be that thick."

"I hope not," Lily said, "I wouldn't mind if it was Remus, he's nice, although he has poor choice in friends."

Mary laughed but said, "Maybe there's more to Potter and Black than meets the eye."

"Maybe, but probably not," Lily snapped, "but I have to go."

"Alright," Mary said, "See you."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," Lily said.

Lily waved to Mary and left the compartment.

A bit down the corridor, Lily was joined by Remus Lupin who was shutting the door to his own compartment.

"Hello Lily," he said, "Have a nice summer?"

"No," she said, "it was slightly horrible. How was yours?"

"Surprising," Remus answered with a bemused expression, "Do you know who the Head Boy and Girl are?"

Lily grinned, "I'm Head Girl!" she exclaimed.

"Congratulations," Remus said, "Although I offer you my sympathy."

"Why?" Lily asked confused.

"You'll find out soon enough," Remus answered vaguely.

"Do you know who the Head Boy is?" Lily asked.

Remus just smiled at her and struggled not to laugh.

"Who is it?" Lily snapped as they arrived at the front of the train.

"You're about to find out," Remus answered pulling open the door.

Lily glared at his back and followed him inside.

Remus crossed the compartment and sat near the windows next to a boy with untidy black hair and glasses: James Potter.

Lily glared at him with all the hate she could manage as she felt her heartbeat increase. She hated him.

"Potter," Lily spat, "Get out."

"Hullo, Evans, nice to see you too," James answered, "How was your summer?"

"Potter," Lily repeated, "Get out."

"Mine was nice, thank you for asking," James continued.

"Potter, this is the last time I'm going to say this," Lily snapped, "Get out. Now."

"I'm sorry, Evans," James sighed, "But I'm supposed to be here."

"What reason would you have to be here?" Lily snapped.

"Well you see, Evans, I'm Head Boy. And the letter told me to come here at 11 o'clock," James said.

"What...You…Head Boy…are you serious?" Lily stuttered

"No, Evans, I'm James," he answered, "Funny, I thought we've met before."

Lily looked at Remus who was trying not to laugh at their stupid recurring joke and said, "Is he serious?"

Remus grinned, "No, Lily, he's James."

Lily just glared at him.

"Sorry, Lily," Remus said, "but unfortunately he is telling the truth. I saw the letter myself."

"Please tell me this is all a joke," Lily pleaded.

"Sorry, Lily," Remus said.

"I nearly died of shock, too," James said.

"And Padfoot nearly died of laughter," Remus added.

"You cannot be serious," Lily muttered.

"You're right," James said. "I'm James."

"Oh shut up," Lily snapped, "that wasn't even funny back in our first year."

"It's funny to us," James muttered.

"Well you have a very immature sense of humor," Lily snapped.

James didn't answer, which surprised her. She expected him to argue back.

Instead he asked, "Who is Head Girl?"

"I am," Lily snapped.

"Oh, well then congratulations!" James exclaimed.

"Thank you," Lily forced herself to say, but she still glared at James.

"Could we hurry up with this meeting thing?" James asked, "Padfoot's alone with Wormtail. Yes, he is our friend but being alone with him for too long can drive a person insane."

"Fine," Lily snapped sitting down next to Remus. "Go for it."

"Er- alright," James said addressing the whole compartment. "I'm James Potter and for reasons unknown to us I am your Head Boy. Er- This here is Lily Evans and she is Head Girl. Er-"

Lily rolled her eyes and stood up. "I have the new passwords here; you can get them from Potter as you leave," She said handing James pieces of parchment. "We'll be having a meeting in the Transfiguration classroom on the first of every month with the Heads of House after dinner, which most of you are familiar with. After the feast please direct the first years to your common room and spread around the new passwords. Also, please try to take time to walk up and down the corridor and make sure no one is doing anything wrong. I know no one ever really does that but we really should. And remember," Lily said looking pointedly at James, "that we are here to set a good example. This means we have to follow the rules ourselves."

"Be nice to the first years," James directed at the Slytherins ignoring Lily's last comment that was directed at him.

Lily rolled her eyes again, "Thank you, Potter."

"Well, that's it and you can all go now," Lily said, "Don't forget to get the new passwords from Potter."

Lily glared at James as he handed people the new passwords to their common room and tried to pass him with the prefects, but to her immense annoyance he grabbed her arm and held her next to him as the last of the Hufflepuffs lefts the carriage.

"What?" Lily snapped pulling her arm out of James' grip.

"Well, I was just thinking that we should improve upon our relationship a bit," James started.

"No, I will not go out with you Potter," Lily snapped turning away from him and she tried to leave again.

James sighed and grabbed her arm again and gently pulled her back. "I wasn't going to ask that, Lily."

Lily glared at him suspiciously at the use of her first name; however, it caused the effect he was looking for: it caught her attention.

"All I'm saying, Evans, is that we should at least pretend to get along in front of the prefects. If we argue all the time it shows disorganization and it may demote our authority, especially with in the Slytherins," James said.

Lily just raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

"Er- I just think that we should appear as friends at the very least," James muttered.

Lily laughed, "We could never appear as friends, Potter."

James gave a small exasperated sigh, "I just think we should try spending a little time together…"

"I will not go on a date with you," Lily interrupted glaring at him.

"That's not what I meant!" James groaned, "You know what, never mind. Just try to pretend not to hate me around the prefects," James snapped with a hard edge to his voice that made Lily look at him in surprise.

"See you around," James muttered.

"Potter, wait," Lily snapped with a pained expression. "I suppose you're... right."

James grinned, "Well, I was thinking we spend a bit of our time together to get to know each other a little bit."

"Now you're pushing it," Lily snapped, "I only meant I'd pretend not to hate you."

James frowned. "Well, think about it then," James said with a slightly hurt voice.

"Fine," Lily snapped.

"Good," James snapped back, "I'll see you later."

Lily stared after him a bit surprised with his abrupt departure and the fact that he didn't ask her out once.

But then she snapped her jaw shut and glared at his back.

How the bloody hell did Potter become Head Boy?

Lily clenched her jaw and stalked back to her compartment.

She pulled the door open and slammed it shut again and threw herself into a seat with a thoroughly annoyed expression.

"Hello Lily," Mary said calmly not looking up from her newspaper.

"I cannot believe this," Lily muttered.

"The Head Boy isn't a Slytherin is he?" Mary said still not looking up.

"I wish," Lily said harshly, "It's even worse."

Mary looked up with a curious expression, "Even worse?"

"Potter," Lily spat.

Mary's jaw dropped. "Potter? Seriously? How?"

"I don't know!" Lily cried, "How could Potter be picked? All he's ever done is pulled pranks!"

"I expected it to be Remus," Mary admitted, "But instead we get Potter," Mary laughed. "How bizarre!"

"And then after the prefect's meeting he- he- he-" Lily stuttered.

"Asked you out?" Mary supplied.

"No!" Lily burst, "He was acting mature!"

This surprised Mary more than the fact that Potter was Head Boy.

"Mature as in how?" Mary asked.

"He said that we should 'improve upon our relationship' and all he meant by it was that was that we shouldn't act like we hate each other in front of the prefects and- and he had a bloody point!" Lily said very quickly. "It's- it's absurd! Why should Potter be Head Boy and then- and then act mature about it?"

"Er-" Mary said slightly amused, "Would you rather him be mature or abuse the power?"

"What?" Lily snapped, "Whose side are you on?"

"Lily, all I was saying is that Potter being mature is probably a lot better than Potter being an arrogant prat," Mary explained.

"I- but- Potter- and- Head Boy- and- _Potter_-" Lily babbled.

"I heard you Lily," Mary said trying her hardest not to laugh, "You just need to distract yourself. How about a game of Exploding Snap?"

"I- alright," Lily agreed.

The rest of the train ride passed without much interest.

"Come on, get your robes on, we're practically there," Mary said pulling Lily of her seat where she was currently laughing at the expression on Mary's face when her cards exploded in her face.

"Alright," Lily said laughing. They quickly pulled on their robes and finished just as the train rolled to a stop.

They rode in a carriage with a few other girls from their dormitory, happily talking about the things they did over the summer. Lily hardly paid attention to the sorting. Now that no one was talking to her she found it very hard to distract herself from the fact that Potter was Head Boy and he was going to ruin her seventh year.

When Dumbledore stood up she forced herself to pay attention.

Dumbledore smiled down at the students and began his opening speech. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I will try not to take up too much of your time so you will be able to enjoy our wonderful feast and head off to your warm beds. Now Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that magic in the corridors is prohibited and there is a very long list of items that are not allowed in the castle outside his office. I would like to warn first years, and a few other older students, that the Forest on the grounds is off limits." Dumbledore looked in the general area of the Gryffindor 7th Years. "Remember that. I would also like to congratulate our new Head Boy and Girl, James Potter and Lily Evans."

Lily groaned as Black, Remus, and Peter jumped to their feet applauding. There went her last shred of hope; Dumbledore confirmed that Potter was Head Boy. Mary laughed at Potter's friends, but got to her feet too.

Lily looked at Dumbledore and saw that she was watching her with an amused expression. She felt a surge of annoyance at the headmaster. He knew she hated Potter and he was thoroughly enjoying her extreme disdain. Evil old man.

Lily looked around her at the rest of the students. Several of them looked stunned. Apparently she wasn't the only one shocked that Potter was made Head Boy. The Slytherins looked outraged; this made her smirk.

Dumbledore cleared his throat to silence the only remaining people cheering (Mary, Remus, Peter, and Black)

Dumbledore smiled as Black sat down last and continued his speech, "Anyone who wishes to try out for their House Quidditch Team please give your names to your Head of House. But as for now, enjoy our excellent feast!"

Food appeared on the golden plates in front of them and Dumbledore sat down.

"Congratulations, Lily!" Alice Prewett, a girl from her dormitory, gushed.

"Thanks, Alice," Lily responded smiling.

"James as Head Boy, that's tough," she said sympathetically.

Lily grimaced in response.

"Dumbledore doesn't mention the new Heads that often though," Alice continued oblivious to Lily's annoyance.

"Dumbledore just wanted to see the expression on my face as he destroyed my last hope that Potter was pulling a cruel joke on me," Lily said harshly.

Alice laughed, "Dumbledore isn't evil, Lily."

"He's obviously very evil if he made Potter and I Heads together," Lily said, "Everyone knows I hate Potter."

"Well he was watching Lily with an amused expression," Mary said, coming to Lily's defense.

Alice sighed. "Well congratulations anyway, Lily," and then she let the subject drop.

When everyone was done eating Dumbledore stood up again and dismissed them.

Lily stood up and began walking with Mary up to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey, Evans," someone called. Lily groaned. It was Potter.

"What?" She snapped.

"If you don't want to, I can show the first years to the common room," James said.

"What?" Lily said again, caught off guard.

"I'll show the first years to the common room if you don't want to." He repeated.

"Why would you want to do that?" Lily snapped.

"I just want to make you happy," James answered softly so only she could hear him, "I'd do anything for you," He gently pushed pass Lily and started calling, "Gryffindor first years follow me!"

Lily stared after James in shock. First he acted mature and then he acted thoughtful. She was used to comments of the 'I'd do anything for you' type, but she was used to him speaking in an arrogant tone. This time he sounded almost genuine.

Lily glared at the back of the person in front of her. Potter acting mature and thoughtful annoyed her almost as much as Potter the arrogant prat. It was unnatural. He shouldn't be acting mature and thoughtful. He wasn't a mature and thoughtful person!

Lily looked over her shoulder at Potter's friends. Black and Peter were in hysterics. Apparently they found James' mature nature very funny. Even Remus looked amused.

Lily walked to the common room in silence. She was in a very bad mood suddenly. Her friends left her alone as they followed the rest of the Gryffindors into the common room. They knew better than most that when Lily was in a bad mood she was best left alone.

Lily changed into her pajamas and climbed into her bed, angrily pulling the curtains shut.

Lily fell asleep, thoughts revolving around James and how he was going to completely ruin her seventh year.

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****A/N: Well the beginning and end were pretty horrible, and the middle wasn't that great. But, that's the first chapter of my newest fanfic. I hope you liked it. Future chapters will be better! So please keep reading!**

**Mary Macdonald isn't an OC, she's mentioned in The Prince's Tale (chapter 33, Deathly Hallows).**

**Alice Prewett is Alice Longbottom, I found her maiden name on some website. Apparently she's related to Molly Weasley. But all pure-bloods are interrelated. She won't have that big of a part, she's just there to fill conversations and cause she'll be in sequel if I write one. However, Frank won't be in this because I don't want to write him into dormitory scenes. If he was in the same year as The Marauders then he would be in their dormitory, and I don't want to deal with that.**

**And thanks to my beta, Rider Arya Svit-kona!**

**So thanks for reading, I'll try to be faster posting chapters with this fic (no promises, unfortunately). I hope you liked it!**

**Reviews make me happy! :D (please)**


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